NewsWrap
for the week ending August 9, 2003
(As broadcast on This Way Out program #802, distributed 8-11-03)
[Written by Cindy Friedman, with thanks to Graham Underhill, Fenceberry, Rex
Wockner, and Greg Gordon]
Anchored by Cindy Friedman and Christopher Gaal
The Anglican Church's U.S. branch, the Episcopalians, this week confirmed
the denomination's first openly sexually active gay bishop and also opened the
door for priests and congregations to hold commitment ceremonies for gay and
lesbian couples. The decisions by the triennial U.S. national General
Convention, representing more than 2-million Episcopalians, follow some 30 years of
vigorous debate on gay issues. Yet the moves have rocked the 77-million member
global Anglican Communion as nothing else since the ordination of women. The
world church's policy, reaffirmed by an overwhelming vote of all its bishops in
1998, is that homosexual acts are incompatible with Scripture.
Canon Gene Robinson, previously a candidate for several other U.S. bisho
prics, was elected by the congregations in his home diocese of New Hampshire,
where he's assisted the retiring bishop for many years. For 13 years he's been
openly partnered with Mark Andrew, following a most amicable divorce from a
wife who had always known of his gay orientation. While British gay activist
Canon Jeffrey John, who recently withdrew from his appointment to serve as the
Bishop of Reading for the sake of church unity, had long been and vowed to
remain celibate, Robinson has never made any such claim.
When a convention committee asked him why God created sexuality if not for
procreation, father-of-two Robinson said, "I believe that God gave us the gift
of sexuality so that we might express with our bodies the love that's in our
hearts. I think that's true of marriage, and I think that's why we hold marriage
to be a sacrament... In my relationship with my partner, I am able to express
the deep love that's in my heart, and in his unfailing and unquestioning love
of me, I experience just a little bit of the kind of never-ending,
never-failing love that God has for me. So it's sacramental for me."
Once that committee had sent his ratification on for floor votes, the
bicameral convention's House of Deputies -- which represents lay people and
lower-level priests -- approved Robinson's elevation to bishop by a two-to-one
margin. Debate was impassioned but dignified.
The vote in the House of Bishops was briefly delayed by some last-gasp,
sexually-tinged allegations against Robinson which proved quite flimsy under
investigation by the church. The U.S. bishops went on to approve Robinson for
consecration by a margin of almost 3-to-2.
While gays and lesbians and their allies rejoiced, some bishops, priests
and lay delegates walked out of the convention in protest, although national
leadership did not view it as a mass action. Some who did not boycott the
convention attended with ashes on their foreheads as a penance for Robinson's
confirmation. Perhaps as many as 2 dozen conservative bishops have signed a
statement calling on leaders of the global church to intervene in what they called a
"pastoral emergency".
Even before the U.S. convention, some of those leaders had warned of a
split in the event of Robinson's confirmation, and some foreign bishops had even
attended the U.S. meeting.
The so-called "first among equals" in the Anglican Church is the Archbishop
of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, who personally supports ordination and marriage
of gays and lesbians. He is praying that no schism will result, but he said
he foresaw what he called "difficult days" ahead, and called a special meeting
of the church's 38 regional primates for October in Britain. That same month,
Robinson will be appearing at a convention of Britain's Anglican Lesbian and
Gay Christian Movement, while back in the U.S. conservatives will be meeting
to consider their next move. Robinson's consecration as the 9th Bishop of New
Hampshire is scheduled for November 2nd.
Canada has already been weathering its own international firestorm since
the Vancouver area Diocese of Westminster began blessings for same-gender
couples, and while no formal or general position has been taken, there are
indications that some Canadian Anglicans are content to view the Episcopalian action as
a valid exercise of local control.
Primate of the Southern Cone -- South America -- Archbishop Greg Venables,
views the threat of schism as a serious one, calling the Episcopalians and the
Church of England "culturally deaf" and warning that, "The primates of the
global south are mobilizing themselves."
About half of the world's Anglicans are Africans. The vehemently anti-gay
leader of the Anglican region with the largest membership -- Archbishop Peter
Akinola, head of Nigeria's 17.5-million Anglicans -- called Robinson's
elevation "a satanic attack on God's church." It's quite possible that Nigeria will
declare itself out of communion with the Episcopalians, as it already has with
Canada's New Westminster diocese.
All of Kenya's bishops issued a joint statement saying they would consider
breaking ties with any diocese that ordains anyone with even a history of
homosexual acts or blesses same-gender couples, describing any such diocese as
having "kicked itself out of the Anglican communion." Church leaders in east,
west and central Africa have voiced strong opposition to Robinson's elevation.
Even the much more gay-accepting Archbishop of Southern Africa Njongonkulu
Ndungane believes that gay and lesbian clergy must remain celibate, although
he said his region must support that it was a "correct process" that confirmed
Robinson within the U.S. province of the church.
Uganda's Anglican bishops have already announced that they "will not have
any fellowship with a diocese that consecrates homosexuals or allows homosexual
marriages."
The bishops of the Southeast Asia region will be meeting in the coming week
and may well also cut ties with the U.S.
After Robinson's confirmation, the Episcopal General Convention's
resolution on blessing gay and lesbian couples was almost anti-climactic, although
still a significant change from its previous stance and compared to most other
U.S. Christian denominations. Activists had hoped the meeting would direct the
national leadership to draft formal rituals for those ceremonies and to make
them available throughout the U.S. denomination, but that didn't happen.
Instead the bishops amended the resolution that they and the House of Deputies then
approved by substantial margins, to essentially authorize bishops to allow
individual priests and congregations to perform gay and lesbian commitment
ceremonies in their churches if they choose. Quite a few such ceremonies have been
performed without official acknowledgment from the national body, but it's
believed that more will now go ahead. Currently in the 110 U.S. dioceses, 3
bishops have formally approved blessing gay and lesbian couples, many bishops have
explicitly prohibited them, and about 20 bishops have quietly left the
decision to individual congregations and priests. Even under the new resolution, no
individual congregations or clergy can be required to hold commitment
ceremonies.
That's considerably more unity on the gay and lesbian marriage issue than
the world's Lutheran churches were able to achieve as they convened in Canada
at the end of July. Representatives of the more than 60 million Lutherans in
76 nations meet every six years under the auspices of the Sweden-based Lutheran
World Federation, whose leader admitted that differences over homosexuality
were something they couldn't solve at this time. Some liberal delegates wanted
to at least study the concept of blessing same-gender couples, but they could
not even win a specific mention of that in what was ultimately described as a
study of "issues of marriage, family and human sexuality in a manner
appropriate to the needs of each member church." While some liberals wanted a
statement criticizing cultural taboos that prevent even discussion of homosexuality,
they ended up with a watered-down reference to "the diversity within the
communion on matters of human sexuality." Conservatives, on the other hand, failed
in their attempt to explicitly define "family" as the union of a man and a
woman.
The Vatican's official publication last week of a document denouncing all
legal recognition of same-gender couples and any politicians who would support
it, came in for considerable criticism at this week's pride events in the
Netherlands and Canada.
The Netherlands, of course, was the first nation to extend full legal
marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples. This week more than 300,000 people
turned out for Amsterdam's unique pride parade, in which the term "float" is
literal as decorated boats process down the city's canals. This year there were 80
boats, many bearing banners denouncing the Pope.
Legal marriages are already being performed in two Canadian provinces,
although the Canadian Supreme Court has refused to fast-track its review of the
federal Government's draft bill for an inclusive definition of marriage,
delaying its introduction at least into next year. Vancouver observed pride this
week for the 25th year, this time with legal marriage in British Columbia to
celebrate. Crowd estimates ranged up to 140,000, which openly lesbian City
Councillor Ellen Woodsworth -- among others -- believes reflects in part a community
that's standing up for separation of church and state in defiance of the
Vatican attack.
And finally... Montreal's 10th pride observance, called Divers/Cité, this
week drew some 800,000 spectators to watch about 1,000 marchers. It had a
strong emphasis on marriage, including a number of marchers wearing wedding attire
and a giant wedding cake float. One male couple were both mockingly dressed
as popes themselves, and joked to the crowd that they were all going to hell.
Local marriage activist couple Michael Hendricks and Rene Leboeuf marched in
tuxes and top hats, and won some of their loudest ovations outside a major
Catholic cathedral on the parade route. A court ruling to establish legal
marriage in Quebec for them and others is currently under appeal.
But the Montreal march also featured Canada's first legally married gay male
couple, Kevin Bourassa and Joe Varnell, who tied the knot in Ontario. Varnell
told the Catholic Church, via reporters, "We will not come into your church
and tell you who can receive communion and who can't. Don't come into my
government's house and tell me who can marry and who can't."
One placard put it more simply: "Jean Paul II est odieux."